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Wednesday, 14 March 2012

BSP Support in Hill State UTTARAKHAND Bails out UPA in the Tough Budget Session Despite Pawar Flip!Industry Assured of Growth in the Presidential Address!Depleted NDA supporting Economic reforms may not trouble Much !Vijay Bahuguna emerges balck hors

BSP Support in Hill State UTTARAKHAND Bails out UPA in the Tough Budget Session Despite Pawar Flip!Industry Assured of Growth in the Presidential Address!Depleted NDA supporting Economic reforms may not trouble Much !Vijay Bahuguna emerges balck horse to be New Uttarakhand CM!Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - Eight HUNDRED FORTEENPalash Biswashttp://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/http://basantipurtimes.blogspot.com/BSP support to Congress and yet another Turnaroun by Unpredictable Mayawati steals the Color of yet to be born New third Front led by Netaji Mulayam singh while Bengali agnikanya Mamata Banerjee is tamed very well despite a minor Flip by the Maratha manush Sharad Pawar! Depleted NDA supporting Economic reforms may not trouble Much and the Industry is well assured of Growth and reforms in the much waited Presidential Address.KHowever, the talk of Third Front and mid-term polls in the wake of the mauling Congress and BJP got in the Assembly elections continued to do the rounds today but not many political leaders actually appeared to be giving credence to such a possibility.The President, Ms Pratibha Patil, has said that the Government will work on five important challenges the country is facing today. On the other hand, she hoped that the country will soon be back in the high growth trajectory of 8 to 9 per cent.Meanwhile, Congress leader Vijay Bahuguna, seen here coming out of Parliament House after the Presidential address to the joint session of Parliament on the first day of Budget session in New Delhi, is to be the new Uttarakhand chief minister. Bahuguna, the son of Hembati Nandan Bahuguna and brother of rita Bahuguna emerged as Black horse winning the Sprint in photo finish!The government Monday said it will pursue the contentious Lokpal bill in the budget session of parliament which began earlier in the day. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha during the winter session last year but got stuck in the Rajya Sabha, where the United Progressive Alliance government is short of numbers. On the other hand, BJP and Left parties were today critical of the Presidential Address, saying it was lacklustre and lacked vision while ally DMK was unhappy that it made no mention of the atrocities against Tamils in Sri Lanka. BJP alleged that President Pratibha Patil's Address did not present the big picture about the economy and the steps that the government proposes to take to deal with the crisis. "The Address does not indicate the steps that the government intends to take in order to revive both the economy and the economic sentiment," BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia told reporters. Party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Javadekar said the speech was lacklustre. "The speech is prepared by the government. It is just a list of what has been done which is not enough. It does not say anything about the challenge to federalism and the government's attitude towards the states," he said. Talking to reporters outside Parliament, he contended that the Central Government is usurping the powers from the state through various laws without consulting the states. "This is totally an uninspiring speech. Whether it is on the issue of NCTC, RPF, communal violance bill or several bills of the HRD ministry, the state's have not been taken into confidence. This is an attack on federal structure and no mention of this is there in President's speech," he said. CPI said the Address does not inspire confidence as there was no focus on the problems faced by the people and how the government would tackle it. "No concrete measure to tackle price rise and unemployment figures in the address and therefore it "fails to inspire confidence," CPI National Secretary D Raja said here.Addressing the joint session of Parliament, she described the first challenge as the livelihood security for the vast majority of population. The Government will continue to work for removal of poverty, hunger and illiteracy.The second will be to achieve economic security through rapid and broadbased development and creation of productive job. The third is to ensure energy security for rapid growth while the fourth challenge is realising development goals without jeopardising ecological and environmental security. The fifth is guarantee for internal and external security within the framework of a just, plural, secular and inclusive democracy.Fundamentals robustTalking about the overall economic growth scenario, she said, "The long term fundamentals of the Indian economy remain robust. India's growth prospect arises from factors such as high domestic savings and investment rates, favaourable demographics and a stable democratic polity. My Government is confident that it will soon steer the country back to high growth trajectory of 8 to 9 per cent."Global uncertainty has brought down the growth rate to 8.4 per cent in 2010-11 to around 7 per cent during the current year. However, the President felt that the growth number is still healthy considering current global trends.Taking cues from number of incidences involving denying rights to disabled persons, she announced that a separate Department of Disability Affairs is proposed to be set up. This will provide greater focus on addressing issues confronting persons with disabilities. The Government is considering a new legislation for persons with disabilities to replace the existing Act.Among the other important bills lined up for consideration and passing are the land acquisition bill, the grievance redressal bill, the whistle blower's protection bill, the nuclear safety regulatory authority bill, the pension fund regulatory authority bill, the judges accountability bill, the women's reservation bill and the seeds bill. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters that the government has listed 30 new bills for introduction and 39 bills for consideration and passing. Among the bills listed for introduction are the biotechnology regulatory authority bill, the piracy bill, the agricultural biosecurity bill and the public procurement bill. The General Budget for 2012-2013 will be presented March 16. During the session, the Finance Bill 2012 is listed for introduction, consideration and passing. The Railways Budget for 2012-2013 will be presented to the Lok Sabha March 14 followed by the Economic Survey March 15. The session, which will last till May 22, is scheduled for 35 sittings.The Reserve Bank has attributed decline in the economic growth rate to three-year low of 6.9 per cent in 2011-12 largely to deterioration in the external environment. "Recent data indicate that after a smart recovery during 2009-10 and 2010-11, real GDP growth slipped sharply to 6.9 per cent during 2011-12 largely on account of the deterioration in the external environment and the slowdown in domestic investment," Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) said in its monthly bulletin released today. The external factors that influenced the performance of the economies of the world include euro zone sovereign debt crisis and rising prices of commodities, it said. According to the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), India's growth rate is estimated to slip to 6.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 8.4 per cent in the preceding two years. The fiscal also witnessed "loss of momentum in overall activity", the report said, but added India has done well as compared to several other countries. "Notwithstanding the recent slowdown, the rate of growth of the Indian economy remained quite impressive in a cross-country context," the report added. The Indian economy, it said, has "generally outperformed the other economies, with the notable exception of China, right through 2007 to 2010 and is expected to continue to do so in 2011 and 2012." Savings and investment rates dipped during 2010-11 mainly reflecting a decline in household financial savings and private corporate sector investment, it said. "During the four years since global financial crisis...the growth rate of real GDP averaged 7.6 per cent which was lower by nearly two percentage points than during 2005-06 to 2007-08," the study said. The estimated growth rate in 2011-12 is only slightly higher than 2008-09 when the Indian economy was adversely and indirectly affected by global financial crisis, it said. The deceleration in real GDP during 2011-12, it said, was evident across the major sectors, "largely in agriculture on account of base effect followed by industry and to some extent in services". Within industry, mining and quarrying sector contracted while manufacturing sector growth rate, which accounts for around 80 per cent of industrial sector, nearly halved, the report said.Putting an end to all the speculations, Uttarakhand general secretary in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that Vijay Bahuguna will be the new Chief Minister of the state. Bahuguna, son of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister HN Bahuguna and brother of UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, is an MP from Tehri Garhwal.The decision has come after a meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi and key party leaders.Expressing happiness over the decision, Bahuguna said, "I will take all sections of the party along and there will be no breakup."Earlier, there were reports of Union Minister Harish Rawat and senior leader Indira Hridesh being the frontrunners for the post of the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, with the former having a slight edge.Though the Congress had staked the claim to form the government in Uttarakhand, infighting had delayed the decision of who would be the Chief Minister.The announcement of the choice of 65-year Bahuguna name as the new Congress Legislature Party leader was made by AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad.Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was authorised by party MLAs to take a decision in the matter, chose Bahuguna after taking the views of party MPs and MLAs, Azad told reporters outside 10 Janpath, the residence of Gandhi."The decision has been taken that Vijay Bahuguna will be the Leader of the Legislature Party in Uttarkhand and the new Chief Minister", he said in the presence of Bahuguna as well as AICC General Secretary Birender Singh, in charge of party affairs in the state.The choice of Bahuguna, a cousin of outgoing BJP chief minister BC Khanduri, was made by Gandhi after the party high command had grappled with the issue for days amid diverse pulls and pressures created by several claimants to the top post and demand by independent MLAs whose support is crucial to Congress' securing majority and formation of government.A former Judge of the Allahabad and Bombay High Courts, Bahuguna is Vice-President of Uttarakhand unit of Congress and is a second-term MP representing Tehri Garhwal.Hailing from a political family, Vijay's father was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh long time back and his sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi is currently the President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee.A beaming Bahuguna said he would take all sections of the party along with him and that "there will be no split".The party high command selected Bahuguna after indicating earlier in the day that the AICC had has not closed any option and even an MP can be considered for the top job in the state.Along with Bahuguna, Union Minister Harish Rawat, PCC chief Yashpal Arya, former state Congress Harak Singh Rawat, party MP Satpal Maharaj, MLA Indira Hridesh were also among the prominent contenders for the CM's post.After the announcement, Congress general secretary in charge of party affairs in the state Chaudhary Birender Singh said the party will give a letter to the Governor on Tuesday informing him that Vijay Bahuguna has been elected the CLP leader and then a date for the swearing in ceremony will be finalilzed.After his selection, Bahuguna thanked Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for reposing their trust in him and assured all "friends in Congress" and the people that he will run the government with transparency and work towards makingUttarakhand an "ideal" state.Vijay Bahuguna will be the sixth Chief Minister of the hill state which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh 12 years ago.In the run up to choosing Bahuguna, there was a series of meetings in the last two days in which the senior leaders were engaged in brain storming to decide the next Uttarakhand Chief Minister as different factions had insisted on the candidature of their respective candidates.Rawat's supporters were in fact camping in the national capital for last few days and had also met Gandhi making it clear that they stand for the Union Minister's candidature.Gandhi had meetings with all the contenders at 10 Janpath throuhout the day on Monday.In the 70-member House, Congress emerged as the single largest party with 32 MLAs - four short of majority--but managed to get the support of three MLAs of BSP, three Independents and one MLA from Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P). The Sensex jumped 2.1% on Friday, mirroring gains in Asia, as Greece prevented the immediate risk of a debt default after managing to convince its bondholders to accept a debt swap deal. The lower-than-expected inflation data from China also contributed to the upbeat mood in the market Will the Union Budget for 2012-13 be populist? Will the government go overboard on tightening its finances by raising taxes sharply? These are some of the questions that nervous investors are asking in the run-up to the Budget on Friday, as the Congress party's poor show in Uttar Pradesh has heightened the uncertainty over whether the government will introduce harsh market-friendly measures or will it stick to popular announcements that may further drain its finances. economic times reports:But, before the budget, investors will have to deal with key economic readings including industrial production for January on Monday and inflation for February on Wednesday. While the industrial production growth is expected to remain weak, investors will take heart from the Reserve Bank of India's move on Friday to cut the cash reserve ratio of banks by 75 basis of points. The market was expecting a CRR cut of 50 basis points in the central bank's rate-setting monetary policy meeting on March 15 to ease pressure on money supply. "This is a positive surprise... the markets had no inkling that RBI will cut CRR rates before the policy, or by 75 basis points," said Krishna Kumar Karwa, MD, Emkay Global. "The markets had discounted for a 50-bps cut in the policy meeting next week. Markets could rise on Monday over this announcement," he said. Standard Chartered Bank, in its report after the RBI's CRR cut, said, "In the immediate future, the Indian rupee is likely to extend its gains on the larger-than-expected 75-bps CRR cut, which is potentially positive for equities as well." A strong rupee bodes well for foreign institutional investors in Indian equities as their holding is valued in rupee. But, a wider-than-expected fiscal deficit target for 2012-13 in the Union Budget could weigh on the rupee again. Brokers said the government will have to walk a tightrope to calm investors, who are worried that the finance minister may effect steep increases in taxes, especially corporate, to reduce fiscal deficit that could scuttle the economy's recovery. "This time the budget expectations are more macro than sector-wise. If a fine balance is displayed in the budget, then the markets will be okay," said Vikas Khemani, president and head - institutional equities at Edelweiss. "They have to control growth, inflation and maintain fiscal consolidation, but shouldn't go overboard on either side," he said. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/analysis/Its-uneasy-calm-on-D-Street-ahead-of-budget-despite-CRR-revelry/articleshow/12226429.cmsDriven largely by a surge in the consumer non-durable segment, India's Industrial Production grew sharply at 6.8 per cent in January against a meagre 2.5 per cent last month, harbouring hopes of a rebound in slowing economy forecast to dip below 7 per cent this fiscal, the lowest since the 2008 financial crisis.The consumer non-durable goods sector saw a growth of 42.1 per cent versus 5 per cent a year ago. However, the capital goods figure dropped to negative 1.5 per cent compared to 5.3 per cent growth same period last year. Calling it a strong recovery, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, said efforts needed to be made to promote growth in mining, capital goods and consumer durables.Analysts and market watchers said subdued capital goods output continued to increase the call for expediting measures to boost investment activity.Most of the analysts expected the IIP to be a little over 2 per cent and they were still of the view that But for the aberration in consumer non-durables, the headline number would have been very different."Clearly, not a broad-based growth, considering that segments like capital goods, consumer durables and mining continue to struggle," Harich Galipalli of JRG Securities told Deccan Herald.But a ray of hope was evident in the upward revision of IIP number for December to 2.5 per cent from 1.8 per cent.A section of analysts were also worried that the latest IIP number may prompt the RBI to defer a possible cut in benchmark rates, looking at the strong growth numbers. But there are others who argue that the RBI may not be swayed by the January number either ways, given the highly skewed growth figures.Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said one month data was not enough to give firm conclusion on whether the economy has taken off."If it continues in next month, that indicates that the economy is now ready to move back to more normal growth rate for the economy as a whole," Ahluwalia told reporters.The January Manufacturing output, which constitutes about 76 per cent of industrial production, rose 8.5 per cent from a year earlier, the government data said.But, the mining sector contracted 2.7 per cent in January versus 1.7 per cent growth a year ago.Capital goods sector too witnessed a contraction of 1.5 per cent as against a growth of 5.3 per cent in the same month last year. During April-January, industrial production expanded 4.0 per cent. Indian economy is seeing strong signs of positive momentum, while neighbouring China is heading towards slower growth, Paris-based think tank OECD said. The latest reading for the India comes at a time when there are rising concerns about prolonged slowdown in the national economy, which is expected to expand just 6.9 per cent in the current financial year ending March 31, 2012. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) today said most of the developed economies are showing positive change in momentum, while the trend is stronger in India and Russia. OECD, a grouping of over 30 nations that account for more than 60 per cent of global economic output, has based its reading on Composite Lead Indicators (CLIs). "The CLIs for India and Russia are also showing stronger signs of a positive change in growth momentum. However the CLIs for China and Brazil continue to point to below-trend growth," the grouping said in a statement. CLIs indicate turning points in economic activities. In January, India's CLI rose to 102.1 from 101.9 in December 2011. India is not part of OECD. Last week, the World Bank cautioned that downside risks to Indian economic growth are high. "In India, the slowdown in GDP growth witnessed over the last two quarters is likely to extend into the coming fiscal year because of the weakness in investment," it had said. As per official estimates, the Indian economy is likely to expand 6.9 per cent in the current fiscal, much lower than 9 per cent projected during the 2011-12 Budget. Meanwhile, OECD today said that the US and Japan continue to drive the overall position but "stronger, albeit tentative, signals are beginning to emerge within all other major OECD economies and the Euro area as a whole".